Behemoth is Thomas Hobbes's narrative of the English Civil Wars from the beginning of the Scottish revolution in 1637 to the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, and is his only composition to address directly the history of the events which formed the context of his writings in Leviathan and elsewhere on sovereignty and the government of the Church. Although presented as an account of past events, it conceals a vigorous attack on the values of the religious and political establishment of Restoration England. This is the first fully scholarly edition of the work, and the first new edition of the text since 1889. Based on Hobbes's own presentation manuscript, it includes for the first time an accurate transcription of the passages which Hobbes had deleted in the text, and notes made by early readers.

托马斯·霍布斯（Tomas Hobbes，1588—1679），英国开创现代政治哲学理论的重要哲学家。他一生著述颇丰，包括历史学、伦理学、政治哲学、几何学等方面。他在政治哲学上的成就最为卓著，著有《利维坦》《论公民》《法之原本》等书，为近现代西方政治哲学的发展奠定了基础 。

李石，1979年出生于贵阳，清华大学理学学士、哲学硕士，意大利国际社会科学自由大学（LUISS）政治哲学博士，北京大学博士后，现为中国人民大学国际关系学院政治系副教授。研究方向为西方政治哲学、西方政治思想史。已出版专著三部：《积极自由的悖论》（商务印书馆，2011），《自由：公共领域的私人空间》（广东教育出版社，2012）；《平等理论的谱系：西方现代平等理论探析》（中国社会科学出版社，2018）；并在《哲学研究》《哲学动态》《道德与文明》《伦理学研究》以及《北京大学学报》等核心期刊上发表学术论文五十余篇。